Kristian Thordarson, owner of Thordarson Construction, specializes in high-end full-home remodels, but in 2015 he dipped his toes into the ADU world and now he’s excited to jump in. The opportunity presented itself when Keith Pitt and his wife Stephanie Mix approached Kristian about converting their historic garage in the Irvington neighborhood into an ADU for Keith’s mother.

Although he’d built many practical ADUs over the nearly forty years he’s been doing remodels, his first permitted ADU was inspired by a friend. Joan asked him to help her convert an under-used bedroom and bathroom into a studio apartment. He got such great feedback he decided to create an ADU of his own.

When Kevin and his wife Amy created their own construction company seven years ago, Kevin’s inspiration to offer ADUs came from a brainstorm about their own family’s housing situation. They were trying to figure out how to move Amy’s father to Portland from upstate New York. Property values are much higher in Portland, so Kevin and Amy investigated building an affordable home for Dad on their lot by constructing an ADU in their backyard.

Sam Hagerman is one of the owners of Hammer & Hand, a construction and remodeling company with locations in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. As one of the early promoters of the ADU concept in Portland, Sam worked hard to bring it to fruition and he and his company now help their clients create energy-efficient ADUs.